1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a method of producing educational materials, and specifically, to the manufacture of materials to assist students in improving their ability to read in a phonetic manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Objectives of the Invention
Reading was taught in schools in Colonial times in this country in a two step process. Students first learned the alphabetic code as the importance of the letters which formed words was strongly instilled and simple syllables and exercises in spelling were taught throughout the early grades. Letters were identified and taught as parts of words (e.g., "c" is for cat). Children then practiced the simple syllables and spelling exercises which were repeated over and over. Laborious instructions in letters or "phonetics" seemed the proper course and remained so in most U.S. educational systems until about the second quarter of this century. In the 1930's and 1940's reading became more focused on comprehension whereby woods were introduced through meaning first, to be recognized "holistically" by sight. Children were encouraged to recognize words associated with a picture and the identity of the word was termed "meaning-based". The earlier phonetic approach was substantially cast aside and used only as an ancillary method, as a mere supplement to the newly adopted "holistic" method of reading.
Reading disabilities are generally defined as one or more of several learning disorders and are included in a group manifested by significant difficulties in listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, mathematical abilities, or social skills. Such disorders are peculiar to an individual and may occur for a variety of physical, emotional, mental, socio-environmental or other factors. One such learning disability is commonly referred to, somewhat controversially, as "dyslexia". Whatever the cause, dyslexia is a term used to label children or adults that can easily read certain words but not others.
It is now believed that "dyslexia" can be artificially induced in certain individuals if the individual is taught at an early age to read by the "sight" or holistic (whole word) method. Hence, it is believed that once children learn the holistic or look-say method, reading problems will occur as more complicated words appear in advanced grades and more difficult reading materials. Pre-school children are usually taught to read by looking at pictures and pronouncing words associated with them. By the time many children reach kindergarten, they have mastered a sight vocabulary of several hundred words, making first grade reading a "snap". However, once the children develop an automatic ability to identify words configurationally or wholly, a cognitive block which is associated with dyslexia can occur when words of more complexity are encountered.
Tests have recently been devised which demonstrate that many children diagnosed as "dyslexic" are merely children that have learned to read holistically instead of phonetically. Such a test includes two sets of words. The first set has over 200 sight words drawn from Dr. Seuss' books, "Green Eggs And Ham" and "The Cat In The Hat". The second set of words includes about the same number of equally simple words drawn from Rudolf Fleschis' "Why Johnny Can't Read". The test is conducted by measuring the speed at which a child reads both set of words and by counting the errors made in the reading of the two word-sets. The test subject must identify the words in the first or holistic set at a rate of 30 words per minute or greater with more than an 80 percent accuracy. If the student reaches this minimum threshold, the phonetic set is then undertaken. If 5 words or more are missed in the phonetic set, then the child is considered half as dyslexic as a child that missed 10 words in the same word set and the degree of dyslexia can be calculated. It has been found that most subjects can correct approximately 50-100 percent of the words which are missed in the phonetic set if they go back and orally spell each letter of the words missed. Thus, this two part test has been shown to be a method of identifying whether a child decodes words phonetically or holistically. It also provides a measure of the degree of dyslexia the child may have.
With this background in mind, it is an objective of the present invention to improve the reading skills of those children and adults that have been diagnosed as dyslexic.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide reading materials which will alter or help alter the reading processes of holistic readers.
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing reading materials which will increase the reading abilities and/or learning abilities of students.
Various other objectives and advantages of the invention will become clear to those skilled in the art as a more detailed explanation of the methods herein is set forth below.